


between these bars

by kiyala



Series: The Gilded Knife [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Character Death, Community: trope_bingo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-09 00:23:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is eight years old when he watches his father die.</p><p>This sets off a chain of events that set Loki on the path to becoming the Liesmith, the most infamous sky pirate in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	between these bars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [piecrumbs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/piecrumbs/gifts).



> This is a birthday fic for my darling [pie](http://piecrmbs.tumblr.com/).

Loki is eight years old when he watches his father die.

Laufey—known to most as the Pirate King—dies quietly, his eyes full of pride, of hatred. He dies looking into the eyes of his killer, a smirk tugging at his lips. This isn't over yet; Laufey knows that. This doesn't end with his death.

No, his death is where it all _begins_.

Loki does not cry as he watches his father's blood spill to the floor. His brothers, on either side of him, huddle closer to him, as if three young, unarmed boys have any defense against the entire Æsir army. In the blink of an eye, Helblindi is snatched up by a guard. Unlike his father, he screams, the cry coming to a gurgling stop as his throat is slit.

Byleistr's fingers dig into Loki's arm with fear. Loki feels it too; there is no shame in admitting that to himself when the floor is red with the blood of his father and brother. He clings to Byleistr, but there's nothing he can do to stop the guards from dragging him away as well, blade held to his throat.

Byleistr doesn't scream. Loki wants to, but when he tries, no sound comes. He stands there, paralysed by fear, waiting to die.

"Sire?" One of the guards looks at Odin, who is still holding Laufey's body, sword still wet with blood. "The girl?"

Odin looks at Loki and huffs before looking away. "Throw her into the dungeon."

It takes Loki a moment to realise that they're talking about him. He used to be teased for looking effeminate by his brothers all the time. Now, he firmly keeps his mouth shut and lets them drag him away. As they lock the barred door behind him, he has one thought and one thought alone.

He is going to ruin the Æsir someday. He'll do it slowly and painfully, and he'll make sure Odin lives to regret the decision to let him live.

«·»

_Valhalla_ is the largest airship of the Æsir fleet. It is said that Odin spends more time on his ship than he does on land and to anyone who has actually seen the ship themselves, this is not such a far fetched thought.

It is less of a ship and more a floating city. It has docking bays for other Æsir airships; Odin's smaller, sleeker battleship _Gungnir_ being one of them. Loki watches out of the tiny window of his cell as _Valhalla_ 's doors open for the smaller ship. When _Gungnir_ locks into position, it barely even shakes.

Loki is moved from his cramped cell into a bigger one. He likes this one less; he sits huddled in one corner and the wide, empty space between him and the bars gives him the illusion of freedom, taunting him. They've yet to decide what to do with him, though he's heard mentions of _slavery_ and _prostitution_ thrown around. He's happy for them to take as long as they want to decide, because it means they leave him alone in his prison.

This is where he meets the sons of Odin.

One of them is clearly older than he is, golden-haired and already growing into his bulk. The other looks to be roughly Loki's age, rounder in the face, his hair a light brown. Loki doesn't need to have met Thor and Baldur before to recognise them immediately.

Thor, especially, holds himself with pride. He cannot be more than thirteen years old, yet he stands with his head held high, imitating the air of majesty that he will no doubt inherit from his father.

Loki hates them both, by sheer virtue of who they are, for the fact that they are on the other side of the bars. He hates Thor most because despite his arrogance and condescension, he treats Loki far, far kinder than anybody else. Loki doesn't want kindness; not from his enemy, but when the guards all jeer at him, guard sticks rattling against the bars, it's Thor who tells them to stand down. It's Thor whose eyes go dark with anger when the men, thinking Loki a girl, describe what they would do to him. A thirteen year old boy is no match for the big guards but he has his father's power here and when he knocks their heads together, they can do nothing but bow and apologise.

Loki can imagine him growing into a bully, growing into Odin, assured in his power and authority, having never felt the lack of this power.

Loki watches from the corner of his cell, and vows to himself that he will change that. Thor is the jewel in Odin's crown; it is Thor that he will ruin.

«·»

There is a pendant around Loki's neck; a gift from his mother when she still lived. He's always been much smaller than his brothers and she had taken him aside one birthday, telling him that small as he was, he would not have the same brute strength of his father or brothers in battle.

"Do not be mistaken," she had told him with a placating smile, "this is not something to be ashamed of. There are many more ways to inflict pain than with weapons. If you learn patience, Loki, you can bring anything—or anyone—down to nothing."

She'd tied the pendant around his neck then, unpolished brass hanging on a plain black cord. At a glance, it's unremarkable. Loki knows better. It's a container and there's a trick to opening it. There isn't very much space in it, but it carries a small amount of deadly poison.

"Just a few drops are all you'll need," his mother would tell him. "If you have patience and cunning, you'll learn to do a lot of damage with the smallest of things."

So Loki is patient. He knows that he doesn't have the luxury of time here, that he will only have so long before Odin decides what to do with him, or before someone discovers that he is not a girl and simply kills him. Still, that does not mean he is going to rush and lose what little advantage he has.

First, Loki practices his pickpocketing on the guards. He's always been good at it, but he has to make sure that he can get the key out of the head guard's pocket through the bars of his cell without being noticed by anyone. There are three rotations of guards throughout the day and Loki practices pickpocketing every one of them. He's confident by the end of one full day, but he waits another, just in case.

In the afternoons, Thor has lessons with Odin, learning to fight, to steer, being groomed into the next leader of the Æsir. Baldur, used to being the golden child, the centre of attention, never handles this particularly well. He visits Loki alone when Thor is busy, standing on the other side of the bars, taking satisfaction in being able to taunt him.

This time, when Baldur comes down to the dungeon, Loki has everything ready. He's shown no resistance over the past few days, so the guards are relaxed. Nobody has noticed that Loki has already stolen the key from the guard and unlocked his cell door, leaving it shut for now.

Nobody has taken notice of the fact that Loki has a dagger concealed in his boot; they aren't even looking his way as he opens his small vial of poison, letting the drops fall onto his blade.

Baldur comes in, and the guards immediately stand a little straighter, paying more attention. Loki hides his smile, moving his dagger out of sight. It's too late for them to start being vigilant now.

All Loki needs is for Baldur to get a little closer, and he tends to do that himself anyway. Baldur likes to stand close enough that the metal bars press against his skin, holding onto them and peering inside, mocking Loki without the need for words.

Loki is the one wearing the smug smile this time. All it takes is one single slice to get the poison into Baldur's bloodstream. He stumbles backwards, crying out in pain and alerting the guards, but Loki is already on the move. He pushes the cell door open, letting it slam into one of the guards running towards him. He ducks and weaves his way around the others, and by the time he reaches the door, Baldur's started retching.

The guards cry out in horror as they realise that he's vomiting _blood_. Loki spares half a second to glance at his handiwork before he's out of there.

An alarm is raised throughout the ship, but there are two issues for them to deal with at the moment and a prisoner that nobody had thought to be a threat takes second priority to the fact that one of Odin's sons is dying.

Loki has only seen the interior of the _Valhalla_ when he'd been taken down to the dungeons in the first place, but he'd committed it to memory then and has rehearsed his escape in his head every day since. He knows which way to turn, where to duck out of sight, and when he sneaks out onto the deck, he's relieved to find that the ship isn't actually in the air.

It's still a fair way from land, but Loki doesn't care about that. He dives off the side, his splash barely making a sound with the cacophony onboard. He ducks his head underwater anyway, not wanting to risk being seen when he's this close to escaping. By the time he dares to lift his entire head above the water, he's much closer to land.

There are hiding places near every port that Laufey had set up in case any of their operations went wrong. Loki doesn't know if he'll find anybody else there, but he has nowhere else to go. He needs to regroup, he needs to figure out what the hell he's going to do.

And once he's done that, he can figure out how he's going to destroy the Æsir.


End file.
